Zimbabwe News Online - 12/10/97

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Special Feature:

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, ZIMBABWEANS TELL MUGABE

Harare yesterday resembled a war-torn city as thousands
of workers took to the streets to show the government
that it can not do whatever if feels like with the
people.

In an unprecedented show of people power, business in
Harare and other major cities ground to a halt as workers
took to the streets to demonstrate against the imposition
of a five percent levy and other taxes aimed at raising
money to pay ex-combatants gratuities of Z$50 000 each
and monthly pensions of Z$2 000.

The government which has become infamous for taking
people for granted tried two weeks ago to fast-track
through Parliament, a Bill which would make it compulsory
for all workers and companies to pay a five percent
levy to raise money for ex-combatants. Parliamentarians
unanimously opposed the levy, but the executive in
its usual arrogance announced that the government was
going to go ahead with the levy.

Even the annual conference of the ruling party ZANU
PF, held in Mutare last week also strongly opposed
the imposition of the levy which was to come together
with increases in duty on fuel by 20 cents per litre,
and sales tax from 15 to 17,5 percent. The government
also increased the levy on electricity bills from five
to 10 percent.

Mugabe announced at the Mutare conference that the government
would no longer go ahead with the five percent levy
but he was silent on increases in sales tax, fuel duty
and the increase in electricity levies, prompting the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) to call for
a nation-wide peaceful demonstration on yesterday.

With the arrogance typical of a government which has
been in power since independence in 1980, the Minister
of Home Affairs Dumiso Dabengwa denied the ZCTU permission
to hold whatwas supposed to be a peaceful demonstration.
The ZCTU quickly and successfully sort a court order
for the demonstration to go ahead.

Dabengwa and his Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri
ignored the High Court order and braced for confrontation
with the workers. They mobilised the riot police, armed
them with teargas and ordered them to make sure people
did not gather at Africa Unity Square, the intended
meeting place for the demonstration. By 7am yesterday
all main roads into Harare city centre were manned
by riot police and people were not allowed to move
even in groups of just five.

Commuter omnibuses carrying people into town for work
were being turned back to where they had come from
and people were being forced to complete their journey
into town on foot. By the time people got into town,
they were tired and angry with the riot police. An
atmosphere for confrontation had already been created.

On arrival at their workplaces most workers were told
by their employers to go back home as they were not
going to open their businesses for fear that the planned
demonstration might turn violent. Some of the employers
obviously wanted their workers to go and join the demonstration
to deliver home to the government the message that
people have had enough of taxes and levies.

Some of the riot policemen, in their overzealousness,
started firing teargas at people who were not demonstrating
at all but simply walking alongside one another in
what appeared to the police to be groups. The teargas
then drifted into buildings forcing people to spill
onto streets with an already hostile attitude towards
the police, and let alone the government. They started
hitting back at the police with stones, and the policemen
responded with more teargas, turning the city centre
into a smoke arena. Others overturned waste bins onto
the street, turning the city centre into a huge refuse
dump.

Some people vented their anger on government vehicles
and buildings, smashing windows on scores of them,
and setting some vehicles on fire. The situation was
worsened by hooligans who started breaking into some
shops to loot and in some areas were stoning vehicles
indiscriminately. A bus belonging to a government owned
company was burnt while many were stoned. A truck belonging
to the Prisons Service was also set on fire, so were
scores of other vehicles belonging to private individuals.

Shops situated near Matapi Hostels in Mbare high density
suburb and owned by business men of Asian origin were
looted of almost everything, except big items which
the hooligans could not carry.Four policemen were seriously
wounded by demonstrators who charged at them with stones
after they had run out of teargas.

By mid-day the streets of Harare were almost deserted
and all roads were littered with stones and garbage.
Although the workers never managed to congregate into
one big gathering to be addressed by leaders of the
ZCTU, by the end of the day government had got the
message that it cannot play around with the people.

The Minister of Finance, Herbert Murerwa announced in
Parliament yesterday that the government had officially
scrapped the five percent War Veterans levy. However,
he said the increases in sales tax, electricity levy
and duty on fuel would remain until Parliament debated
the issue. This is likely to result in another confrontation
with the workers.

Unfortunately there were effortsto play down the demonstration
in the government owned media. Scenes portraying the
violent episodes of the demonstration were not shown
on local television. On Monday the ZCTU said if the
government did not back down on the other taxes another
demonstration would be called. However, officials of
the ZCTU are not being covered by the government owned
Zimpapers Ltd which publishes the country's two and
only daily newspapers. ZCTU secretary general Morgan
Tsvangirayi who was blamed by the police commissioner
for inciting the public into violence was not given
a chance by both television and the newspapers to give
his side of the story yesterday.

Zimbabwean workers, however, have become enterprising
and will somehow get the message of the demonstration
across the whole country with or without the government
controlled media as evidenced by the success of yesterday's
demonstration nation-wide inspite of the little publicity
it was given..

Meanwhile, in typical racist fashion, the government
yesterday blamed white business men for inciting their
workers to join the demonstration. Although all businesses
were closed, including those owned by blacks, the government
questioned why white employers had closed their shops
so that their workers could join the demonstration.

One minister even accused some farmers of giving their
workers time off and ferrying them into the city so
that they could join the demonstration.

People have now had enough of Mugabe's government and
its strong arm tactics. Even the government owned Herald
newspaper today carried a commentary blaming the police
for the way they reacted against an intended peaceful
demonstration. Teargas is indiscriminate when it flows,
and yesterday some of it was blown into Herald House,
prompting the paper to carry an comment criticisingthe
police.

Today the situation has returned to normal in Harare
but another demonstration is likely in the near future
to press government into lifting the other taxes introduced
last week. There was no sign of riot policemen on the
streets of Harare today. Probably the government has
realised that it cannot win a confrontation with the
people.

People have just had enough of taxes. Yesterday some
of the demonstrators carried placards reading: The
AIDS Virus is better than the Tax Virus.

In 1992 when Zimbabwe was hit by a devastating drought,
the government introduced a five percent drought relief
levy which the people expected to be lifted with the
end of the drought. However, much to the surprise of
the already heavily taxed workers, this was converted
into a permanent development levy. Two years ago the
government introduced a 10 percent levy on tobacco
earnings, and in July this year it introduced a tax
on people using company cars.

While most Zimbabweans are not against the payment of
gratuities and pensions to ex-combatants, they are
opposed to the manner in which the government is trying
to raise the money by further burdening the already
suffering masses. Zimbabweans are actually among the
highest taxed people in the world.

Zimbabweans may have been docile over the years, but
they certainly are now a changed people. They know
that government ministers bought themselves new Mercedes
Benz vehicles under the pretext that these were to
be used by foreign heads of state during the solar
summit held in Harare last year. The same ministers
then bought their old Mercedes Benz cars from the government
for between Z$6 000 and Z$10 000, yet the market value
of these cars was around Z$250 000.

As if this was not enough abuse of public funds, the
ministers have just bought themselves four-wheel drive
Cherookes valued at Z$500 000 each for weekend excursions
to their farms and rural homes. They have fat salaries
and a host of allowances. Mugabe is a frequent traveller
outside the country and people feel a lot of money
could be saved if he reduced his trips.

Among other measures, the people are arguing that Mugabe
should reduce the size of his government by merging
some ministries and getting rid of such posts as ministers
without portfolio as well as deputy ministers.

Last weekend Mugabe's Mercedes Benz was stoned by a
33-year-old man as Mugabe was escorting President Frederick
Chiluba of Zambia to Harare Airport, and one of its
headlamps was smashed. Police have said they suspect
the man to be mentally disturbed but the truth maybe
that the man is quite okay upstairs and probably just
fed up of Mugabe's way of governing.